The Coalition of Licensed Firearms Owners (COLFO) advises that the Annual General Meeting of the Council will be held on Saturday May 25 2013.

The meeting will commence at 9.00am.

Members are invited to attend this meeting.

Please reply to Read More

Download the AGM nomination form and register of attendance

Dear Members

In the first two months of this year COLFO has met once as a group and had one meeting with a Police representative. As I write we are preparing for the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) discussion in March. The ATT is an attempt at an International agreement on the transfer of fir Read More

Dear members,

Happy New Year.

The Council of Licensed Firearm Owners (COLFO) is writing to share our opinion issues raised by recent shootings in the United States of America (USA) and a call for registration of all firearms in New Zealand (NZ) in the press in December. Read More

A teenager is dead and his friend may be charged, after shooting him with an airgun. The incident happened in the Auckland suburb of Manurewa. Police say alcohol was involved. With just a single gunshot aimed at a tin can, a quiet South Auckland cul-de-sac has been turned on its head.  Read More

The International Coalition for Women in Shooting and Hunting (WiSH) have issued a new Fact Sheet on whether Australia's 1996 gun laws really saved 200 lives a year.

Read More

The International Coalition for Women in Shooting and Hunting (WiSH) have issued a Working Paper: Why 'finding nothing' matters for good science and policy.

This paper was originally submitted to the Journal of Public Health Policy in 2009, as a 'right of reply' to m Read More

Following the mass shooting in Connecticut the debate over the availability of firearms has been renewed not just in America but also here.

Example application for a permit to import firearms.
View COLFO Import Permit Example

Dear Members

The focus of this bi-monthly column is to follow on from the work COLFO has undertaken on behalf of firearm owners in regard to importing restricted firearms for special reasons. However this process may be used in importing and firearm or an accessory.

We ha Read More

An article by the New Zealand Herald, 'Police seize hundreds of illegal guns a year' brought up the debate about owner vs. firearm registration. Below is a report prepared by Inspec Read More

COLFO's ATT (Arms Trade Treaty) open letter to UN conference, 2012

Dear Members

The focus of this bi-monthly column is to follow on from the lobbying we have undertaken on behalf of firearm owners and to ask you to approach your local member of parliament to introduce yourself as a responsible voter in their community.

As reported in the Read More

Dear Members

Like most, the Council is disappointed by the outcome from the consultation with the Law and Order Select Committee. While the members of Parliament engaged well, most of our members feel as though they were not heard and legislation is being passed that will damage the Read More

Dear Reader of NZ Guns and Hunting

I remember reading an editorial in the Automobile Association magazine a couple of years back. Brian Gibbons commented that despite the millions of dollars in fines, tickets, advertising and safety programs that over the previous 10 years to 2010 t Read More

Dear Reader of NZ Guns and Hunting

In this update I will outline the key work the Council has been engaged in this year and what we are working on longer term.

Our mandate is to build long term relationships to influence change, this is achieved by working with Police and Read More

COLFO went to the UN on August 26th, to discuss sports shooting in relation to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)

View the informational brochure that was presented.

Dear Members

Happy New Year, I trust you had an enjoyable and safe holiday.

Since my last column the Council has met once.

We have had representatives meet with members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFaT) to discuss the proposed UN Arms Trade Tr Read More

Dear Members

Like most, COLFO has been following the events in Christchurch and Japan. Our thoughts go out to everyone effected.

It has been pleasing to hear of the number of groups and individuals who have opened up their homes and gun rooms to others to support them and Read More

Dear Reader of NZ Guns and Hunting

COLFO’s bi-monthly column provides an update on the lobbying we have undertaking on behalf of firearm owners.

We have been involved in a submission to the Dunedin City Council Plan change No 13 which affected resident’s abili Read More

Dear Members

In the last column I considered the statistics for New Zealand of deaths and injury relative the hours of loaded firearm use that occurred in 2008. I estimated there are 1.9 million hours of safe firearms use every year in New Zealand.

In statistical terms th Read More

Dear Member of Parliament

This is the second of my monthly updates to you.

I will send an email once a month for another four months to update you on developments in the research on effect firearms controls.

This month we would like to touch on registration of Read More

Dear Members

No doubt you will have heard something of The Arms (Military Style Semi- Automatic Firearms and Import Controls) Amendment Bill over the last two months.

The extent and implications of this Bill was wider than originally indicated. It resulted in many hours s Read More

Dear Member of Parliament,

This is our third email to you updating you on further research in relation to firearms ownership.

In this email we look at the rate of death in various states including New Zealand.

The subject is best split into two parts: intention Read More

Dear reader of NZ Guns and Hunting

This is a short column as an update on the Council’s activities so far this year.

We have been involved in one small radio interview in regard to the recent hunting accidents.

Over the last four months we have been lobby Read More

WiSH Fact sheet Firearms registration in Australia (PDF)

Wednesday June 9, 2010 | Ann Widdecombe

Theresa May is right to be cautious about changes to gun laws following the horror in Cumbria.

After the Dunblane massacre and in response to the public drumbeat of “something must be done” I was the Read More

Dear Member of Parliament,

This is the final email in the series of six that have been sent to you over the last six months.

We would like to thank you for taking the time to consider our opinions and the recent research we have collected on the behalf of licensed firearm Read More

Dear Member of Parliament,

The focus of this bi-monthly column is to update you on the lobbying we have undertaken on behalf of firearm owners and to ask you to approach your local Member of Parliament to introduce yourself as a responsible voter in their community.

We be Read More

Dear Member of Parliament,

In this email we wish to share further research from Australia, specifically New South Wales (NSW), which considers if there is a link between the number of legally owned firearms in a community and the number of firearms reported stolen. It is relevant to Read More

Dear Member of Parliament,

In this, the fourth email to update you on recent research in regards to firearms, I cover the issues of firearm involvement in suicide and assault.

As there are few incidents of this type in New Zealand it is difficult to get statistics that re Read More

From Morning Report on Monday 30 April 2012

The second hunting death in a month has prompted calls for urgent action to prevent more people being hurt or killed. A man died instantly when he was shot while out hunting deer with four companions near Lumsden.

Read More

Dear Members

This column is an update on the Council’s activities so far this year.

We have been involved in one small radio interview in regard to the recent hunting accidents.

Over the last four months we have been lobbying parliament with updated resea Read More

Dear Member of Parliament,

Congratulations on the election result late last year.

We would like to introduce the New Zealand Council for Licensed Firearm Owners (COLFO).

Dear Members

There has been little activity in firearms legislation over the past two months worth reporting on, hence the short report. Like most I guess we were distracted by the rugby.

We avoided travelling on COLFO business due the increased cost of travel.

Read More

Dear Reader of NZ Guns and Hunting

There has been a number of interesting developments in international firearms legislation over the past two months worth reporting on, however little in New Zealand, as always progress in legislative change is slow. Like most I guess we were distra Read More

Dear Members

Like most, the Council is disappointed by the outcome from the consultation with the Law and Order Select Committee. While the members of Parliament engaged well, most of our members feel as though they were not heard and legislation is being passed that will damage the Read More

Dear Reader of NZ Guns and Hunting,

I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself as chair of COLFO. 

My name is Michael Dowling; I live in Wellington and have been on the COLFO Board for a little over a year now.  I was originally approa Read More

Dear Members,

I hope you have all had sufficient break over the holiday period to come back refreshed.

I attended the 150th Anniversary Ballinger Belt Final Match on the 15th of January; this event is hosted by the National Rifle Association of New Zealand. I was impresse Read More

The past year has had a moderate level of activity for the Council, meeting six times through the year.

I would like to thank the representatives from the national associations which make up the Council: Andre Doyle for National Rifle Association NZ; Bill Wright and Gary Burch fo Read More

Dear Reader of NZ Guns and Hunting

No doubt you will have heard something of The Arms (Military Style Semi- Automatic Firearms and Import Controls) Amendment Bill over the last two months.

The extent and implications of this Bill was wider than originally indicated. It re Read More

Dear Reader of NZ Guns and Hunting

Like most, COLFO has been following the events in Christchurch and Japan. Our thoughts go out to everyone effected.

It has been pleasing to hear of the number of groups and individuals who have opened up their homes and gun rooms to othe Read More

Dear Reader of NZ Guns and Hunting

I hope you have all had sufficient break over the holiday period to come back refreshed.

I had the pleasure of attending the 150th Anniversary Ballinger Belt Final Match on the 15th of January; this event is hosted by the National Rifle Read More

Friday, 10 September 2010
The country’s firearms owners want to see a ‘prohibited persons register’ developed that will help guide the licensing of firearms in this country to only fit and proper persons.

Read More

Dear Members

I am now getting into a routine with reporting on the work COLFO is doing on your behalf.

In the past 2 months we have continued to meet with stakeholders. We have met with Police in National office at Assistant Commissioner level and National Operations leve Read More

Dear Members

This is my second update on the work COLFO is doing on your behalf. My intent is to keep you informed, as much as I am able on what we are up to. The frequency of these updates will increase as we get all of the relationships bedded in.

In the past six months Read More

Dear Members,

I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself as Chair of COLFO.

My name is Michael Dowling, I live in Wellington and have been on the COLFO Board for a little over a year now.  I was originally approached by the Board and asked to consider t Read More